Sapphires and Emeralds
by LadySkarlettofSkaro
Summary: Alfred of Sapphires meets Arthur of Emeralds, and the two find themselves intrigued by someone that has been seen as an enemy by their respected tribes for years. Despite the history of bloodshed and disaster, the two are determined to show that tribal traditions do not always have to rise over modern instincts. Tribal AU, USUK, M for violence in later chapters.


**Aaaaand here I am with a new story for you guys to read! :D The name's Lady Skarlett, if you're new, and if you aren't, welcome back :) **

**It's been a long time since I've written something, and I figure "Why not give this a go?" Plus, this was also the most requested story on a poll that I had, and I'm glad to write this for everyone! ^^**

**So, without further ado, all familiar characters seen here belong to the great Hidekaz Himaruya. Margaret (Ireland), Catalina (Iberia), Elizabeth (Britannia), and other unfamiliar characters are OCs owned by me. Now, if you would, please enjoy :)**

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Chapter 1:

The Attack

The day had started out as a simple gathering for the week, as it was tradition to introduce the children with ten years to what they would do in the future to help their tribe, the tribe of gathering called Emeralds, succeed. It was Arthur's tenth day of birth, and after the morning celebration and ceremony in the lake that ran through their village, his mother Elizabeth led him out into the forest when it was midday, as the other able mothers did. He would do what he was taught with boys his age when he got used to it, but for now, he traveled by his mother's side as he was taught what to do and what to pick and look out for.

"These berries right here," she pointed at a bushel of the blue fruit as she knelt down in front of them, gesturing for her son to follow after her, "they're safe to pick, not just because of the thorn-less bush, but because of their girth. On either side of the perfect ones, there are too small and too big ones, so you must pick the right ones."

"Is this whot I'll be doing when I'm old enough?" The boy asked as he took a few from their bush and placed them in his mother's homemade basket.

"Yer not a girl, Arthur," Maggie, his older sister, snapped at him with a sneer as she sauntered past her brother, the soft smell of lilac wafting off of her large mane of ginger hair as she walked past him. "Yer gonna be with the other boys like you."

"Don't be rude to your brother," their mother scolded them. Her tone was enough to convince her children that she didn't want any arguing to occur today. "He's still learning, just as you were at his age."

"Well he doesn't have to be stupid about every little thing he doesn't know about."

"I am not stupid!" Arthur exclaimed in protest with a glare towards her.

"Yes ye are."

"You're stupid!"

Elizabeth shushed her son by giving a short tug to his ear to silent him. "You'll be doing wood gathering until you're old enough to do more things."

"You'll be with Antonio, dear," Catalina, a family friend, pointed out, rubbing Arthur's hair. Her son Antonio was good friends with Arthur, and the little boy brightened up in happiness and glee at the thought of being with his good friend. Catalina had been a childhood friend of Elizabeth, growing up as neighbors for most of their life and into the present time. Antonio was just a couple of months older than Arthur as well, so the two often played games together or did work they received from tutors and their teacher.

The group of women continued to gather supplies and explained more to Arthur what it did for their village and how it helped them with relations to other tribes. To help him be productive, they told him to gather wheat for food when he could. He hopped from place to place, picking up strands when he could in joy. Eventually, he realized he had wandered into a wide field full of tall grass and wheat, and frantically started to look for his mother when he didn't see or hear her.

"Mum?" He cried out, clutching the wheat strands close to his chest. He tried to keep his fear down as he looked in every direction for any sign of his mother. However, unfortunately, no woman or human- as far as he knew- was nearby."Mum!"

There was a rustle of bushes nearby, and he jumped in shock, staring in the direction where the noise had come from. He saw and heard nothing, and for a long while, there was silence that filtered the area, convincing him that he was just imagining things. With a quiet gulp, he started to turn back the way that he had came, but as soon as he turned his back, there was a battle cry of sorts and a spear flew forward and landed right in front of him. A loud scream of utter terror filled the air as he started to run, the wheat long forgotten where he had once stood. More talking came from behind him, his thin legs moving as fast as he could to get him to safety. Tears streaked down his face, his eyesight blurring, and eventually, he found himself tripping over a tree root and falling on his stomach. He crawled to the side as men that he had never seen before rushed by him, paying him no mind while he escaped into a bush, luckily free of thorns.

Arthur whimpered under his cover, pulling his scraped legs towards his chest and hugging his chin. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and nibbled on his lip as screams of terror were heard outside of his little haven. He was unsure of what was happening, but he could barely make out the shouts and cries of pain and for assistance. The young boy hid his face and started to cry quietly into his arms before someone started to gently nudge him. After a few moments of letting his tears cascade down his cheeks, he glanced up at a blond boy that he had never seen before, with wide eyes that were the color of the sky. He had never seen those kinds of eyes before, and it made him wonder why it wasn't around. They were very pretty and clear, and for him, having grown up around green eyes his entire life, it was the more beautiful eye color he had ever seen.

The boy started to speak, started to ask "Are you okay?" but was unable to finish as someone grabbed Arthur and dragged him out of the bush. He didn't know who it was until he smelt the scent of lilac, noticed the mane of scarlet red, and heard the usually harsh feminine voice whisper in his ear, this time gentle and telling him to hold on. The young boy clutched onto his sister with everything he had. He felt that he would fall from her hold and never return if he did, but he made sure to hide himself within Maggie's arms, just as she was almost hiding him from the world.

When they reached their village once more, the men and boys were already leaving as the women that had to stay behind came out to examine the ruckus and gather the younger children back inside from playing. Antonio was standing in front of Arthur's hut, his hands wringing his shirt nervously as he scuffled his feet. He glanced up at the two coming towards him, but before he could ask anything, Maggie was ushering him inside.

"Come on, Antonio, in ye go," she instructed, gently pushing on his shoulder with one hand as the other shifted her brother to her hip. She closed the door and led the two to the back, where the bedrooms were located. The other brothers, Dillan (Maggie's twin) and Charles, were sitting on the bed quietly, and looked up when the trio entered the room. "Dillan, will ye grab some bandages and healing salves fer me?" Her twin nodded and, in what seemed to be in a long time, he listened to what she had said.

"Maggie..." Arthur quietly spoke up, his voice small and full of fright. "Who were those people? The people with the spears that were running towards us? Whot were they doing here?"

The redhead paused slightly from cleaning his wounds with her apron, but then resumed what she was doing, this time gentler and slower. "They're not good people," she replied. "They don't like us...we don't like them."

"Is that where Father and William are? Did they leave us to go help the mothers?"

Maggie nodded. "They probably went to go defend Mum and Catalina."

"Is my mum alright?" Antonio asked, a presence that had almost been forgotten from how quiet he had been. Usually, whenever he was around people, he was social and excited and friendly. To see him in such a reserved, quiet state was a strong surprise to those who knew him.

She didn't answer him, instead thanking her brother for the cloth and salves. "How about we take a nap after I bandage you up?" A smile, forced and pained, rose on her lips, but it was unconvincing to the young boys in front of her.

When the men returned, rugged and tired, they came back with few women. Elizabeth had thin scratches on her face and a gash in the palm of her hand, and she walked with a limp. Her oldest son William helped her along, and soon, the fathers- James and Marco- rejoined them, having returned a bountiful of fallen supplies to the town square. Catalina did not return, and Antonio sat outside, waiting for her all night. Arthur stayed by his side when she never returned and he cried into her arms as the realization that her soul was now resting with the gods forever. There was a departure ceremony held for her, privately with the family that they had with them and then with those who had also been lost, in a memorial and to mourn over the souls taken that day.

Arthur's knees had healed up in a few weeks, and Antonio spent more time with him than usual. With the loss of Antonio's mother and Arthur's want for a friend, the two of them formed a tight bond between them that could never break. William and the two fathers were gone for long periods of time, but they never told the two boys where they had gone. Eventually, the kids grew: the four oldest children eventually moved out and formed families of their own; Elizabeth gave birth to her last child, Peter; both Antonio- whom she had adopted as her son- and Arthur turned eighteen; yet at the end of the day, throughout all of the eight years that it had happened, Arthur never forgot about the boy with sky-blue eyes that he had run into when he reached his tenth year.


End file.
